Automatic photoprinting and developing apparatus



AUTOMATIC PHOTOPRINTING AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS Filed July 15, 1947 l II I i I f I i I I I I i a a a; l 4 I I 'ps x\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ I l l lI l I h i I I I Fig.8. I g I i l I I l I I I l Patented Nov. 6, 1951UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIO PHOTOPRINTING AND;

DEVELOPING APPARATUS vilmos u et fl B da st Elissa?- Application July15, 19497, Serial'No. 761,138 In Hungary May 9, 1947;

4, Claims. (01. 95am) In theknown. types of photo-printing anddeveloping apparatus, it is, as appears also from the BatentNo.2,900,389 of the applicant, necessary,

in. case it, is desired to prepare more than onev print of any drawing,to place the drawing into the. apparatus separately for preparing eachprint, and, moreover, the drawing, of which a tagethat photo-printsareprepared by it in series.

entirely automatically from the drawing, and, further, that for drawingsof smaller size, or according to how the process of photo-printing may.

render. this necessary, it, is possible to vary the i1 luminating powerand possibly alsothe position of. the source of light, thereby enablinga substan: tial saving in current, and an advantageous print: ing eifectto be obtained.

On the annexed sheet of drawings, theinvention is represented in one ofits embodiments shownby way. of example. On this drawing,

Fig. 1 shows schematically, in vertical section, thegeneral arrangementof they whole apparatus, whilst Fig. 2 is a plan view and partly asection of the same apparatus,

Figs. 3-4 are detail drawings belonging thereto,

Fig. 5 shows, in vertical section, the printing drum only, as well asthe feeding and guiding cylinder, in connection with an electromag-nethcally operated automatic paper-feeding device and an automatic devicefor the guiding of the drawing;

Figs. 6-7 are detail drawings, drawn toa larger. scale, belongingthereto,

Fig. 8 is a section taken along the line A--B of. Fig. '7, whilst Figs.9-10 are a longitudinal section and a side elevation, respectively,drawn to a smaller scale, of the printing drum with adjustable lamps.

On the drawing, 1 denotes the printing drum, 2 the source of lightarranged in its interior, 3 the feeding cylinder, 45 as well as 1-8 andII the guiding cylinders, 6 the endless guiding tape 7 and H] thedeveloper tank.

The general principle of operation of the new type of apparatus consistsin that after printing has been effected the original drawing and theprinting paper are separated from each other,

only the, printing paper passing into the developer, whilst theoriginaldrawing is guided back.

along the envelope surface of the printing drum to the place of feeding.

Accordingly, according to the general arrangement shown on Fig. 1, theoriginal drawing from which a printis to be made and a photo-sensitive,paper arranged in the coil holder l9 are introduced into the apparatusat the feeding cylinder 3 in such a manner that the front edge of thephoto-sensitive paper is held fast in one of the slots 9 0f the. guidingtape 5. The drawing and the photo-sensitive paper, guided together onthe lower part of the drum envelope l by the tape 6,, are lightedthrough, whilst subsequently,

after printing has been effected, the photo-sensitivepaper leaves thedrum 1 and the cylinder 4, and passing along between the gratingsurface. l5 of the tank I!) and the tape l2, becomes developed andslides 'forward on the inclined bottom It to the outlet opening. Theoriginal drawing, on the other hand, is guided back along thedrum l tothe feeding cylinder 3, the said drawing being. guided during this timethrough the gap of adjustable size between the drum envelope and thelower edge of the drawing guiding device l4 supported by the arm l3,following which the tape 6 again automatically grips the drawing, andguides it further along the drum I. When the lower edge of the surfacel4 finds support on the drum envelope, the latter will catch theoriginal drawing.

In the case of the arrangement shown on Figs. 5-8, there is provided, infront of the printing drum I, the feeding cylinder H, and below thelatter the ledge l8 for introducin the printing paper. That end of .theledge 18 which is facing the drum. I projects into the space between thefeeding cylinder 3 and the drum. It is to this end of theguiding ledgethat the closing tongue 20- extends, which latter forms one of the armsof the two-armed lever pivotable around the pivot 2|, whilst the otherarm 22 of the lever forms the soft iron of the electro-magnet 23. If thecircuit of the electro-magnet is closed the electromagnet will keep thearm 22 in the attracted position, whilst at the same time the end of thetonguelliwill become supported against the end of. the ledge l8, therebyobstructing the path of.

the. photo-sensitive paper towards the drum; from this position it isthe force of the spring 24 that endeavours to displace the arm 20.

'Into. thecircuit of theelectro-magnet there is connected the. switchcontact 25 which is kept in the contact position by the force of thetension \F spring 26. This switch contact constitutes one of the arms ofthe double-arm lever pivotable around the pivot 27, whilst the other arm28 of the lever carries the roller 29, which places itself into thegroove 3! of generatrix direction provided on the envelope 3!! of thedrum (Fig. 6).

Into the circuit of the electro-magnet 23 there is connected a secondelectro-magnet 32, the soft iron of which is constituted by the leverarm 34 pivotable around the pivot 33. On the other arm 35 of the lever,a cutting edge 35 of transverse direction is provided, below which thegroove 31 of transverse direction extends along the ledge 18 (Fig. 5).

Along the center of the endless guiding tape 6 there extends thelongitudinal groove l8 (Fig. 8) at that point of the tape, where itleaves the printing cylinder and becomes applied on the guiding cylinder4, the roller 39 finds support in the groove 38, the said roller beingcarried by the arm 4| of the double-arm lever pivotable around the pivot25. The other arm 42 of the same lever (Fig. 5) is constructed so as toconstitute a switch contact connected into the circuit of the'electro-magnet 43, the said contact being kept in the contact positionby the force of the spring 44. The soft iron of the electro-magnet isconstituted by the arm 47 of the double-arm lever pivoting around thepivot 45 and subject to the action of the spring 49, whilst the otherarm 48 of the lever is constituted so as to form a separating tongue theend of which will in case of a closed circuit find support on theenvelope surface of the drum 5.

When it is desired to perform the printing process, the photo-sensitivepaper is guided on the ledge is below the feeding cylinder I? up to theclosing tongue Zii. The original drawing of which a photo-print is to beprepared is pushed below the forwarding cylinder 69 up to the point whenthe front edge of the drawing will raise the roller 29, and at the sametime the electric current operating the magnets is switched on, inconsequence whereof the feeding cylinders I! and 49 will be set inmotion and the printing paper as well as the original drawing, fromwhich a photoprint is to be prepared, are guided on the tape 6.

' These will travel together along the lower envelope surface of thedrum i, where the lightingthrough takes place. The front edge of theoriginal drawing lags behind by about 2 to 3 cm. behind the front edgeof the photo-printing paper. As soon as the photo-sensitive paper hasreached the switch arm M, it will lift out the roller 39 from the groove38 of the tape 6, and will pivot the switching arm around the pivot 55.Thi will cause the circuit of the electro-magnet 43 to be broken at thecontact d2, the spring 46 will deflect thearm t? around the pivot 45 andpress the separatingtongue 18 against the guiding cylinder 4. Thus theprinting paper will continue its travel along the cylinder 4 to thedeveloper, whereas the original drawing will continue its travel alongthe surface of the protecting jacket 39 and will become displaced belowthe cylinder 49 towards the arm 29.

As soon as the end of the original drawing has passed below the roller29, the spring 28 will close the switch contact 2 a, in consequencewhereof the closing tongue 29 will, pivoting around the pivot 2!, becometilted into the closing position. Simultaneously, the electro-magnet 32will be placed under current, and will attract the cutting arm 34 and,at the same time, will stop the feeding cylinder ll; thereupon thecutting edge 4 36 will cut off the necessary length of printing paper.

As soon as the end of the printing paper has left the arm 4| on theguiding cylinder 4, the roller 34 will again descend into the groove 38of the tape 6, the circuit of the electro-magnet 43 will become closedand the end of the tongue 48 will again find support on the'envelope ofthe drum I.

As soon as the front edge of the original drawing again comes to beplaced below the roller 29, it will raise the arm 25, thereby causingthe circuit of the magnets 23 and 32 to be broken, the feeding cylinderI! will be set in motion and the operation will be repated.

In the printing drum shown on Figs. 9-10 there are provided, in additionto the source of light 2, also the sources of light 5|, 52 which arecapable of being slid at will along the supporting bar 53, and of beingrotated around the said supporting bar.- In the case of this arrangementit is possible to increase the intensity of illumination in places,thereby causing the printing process to be intensified in these places.When preparing prints from drawings of smaller size, it is possible tocut out thesource of light 2 and to employ the sources of light 5!, 52only.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for photo-printing and developing, the combination ofa stationary cylindrical drum having at least a lower portion thereor"transparent with a light source disposed Within the" same; a pluralityof rollers rotatably mounted atth'e feeding and delivery sides of thedrum; an endless belt enveloping the rollers and extending slidablyabout the transparent lower I portion of said drum; a pendant separatingmember pivotally mounted intermediate the cylindrical drum and oneroller disposed at the delivery side of the latter; resilient meanseffective to rock the pendant separating member away from said drumtoward said one roller upon the advance end of a print reaching saidroller from between said belt and said drum and thereby causing theprint to be separated from a negative fed with said print about thetransparent portion of said drum; and electro-magnetic means for rockingsaid pendant separating member toward said drum when saidelectro-magnetic means becomes energized in response to the terminationof the print issuing from between said drum and said one roller.

2. In an apparatus for photo-printing and developing the combination ofa stationary cylindrical drum having at least a lower portion thereoftransparent with a light source disposed within the same; a plurality ofrollers rotatably mounted at the feeding and delivery sides of the drum;and endless belt enveloping the rollers and extending slidably about thetransparent lower portion of said drum; a pendant separating memberpivotally mounted intermediate the cylindrical drum and one rollerdisposed at the delivery side of the latter; a magnetically responsiveextension upon the'pendant separating member beyond the pivot mountingof the latter; an electromagnet fixed in operative position relative tothe magnetically responsive extension and effective to shift the latterupon being energized to simultaneously rock said pendant separatingmember toward said drum away from said one roller; and operative meanseffective to cut off electric current from said electromagnet upon theadvance end of a print reaching said roller from between said belt andsaid drum and thereby causing the print to be separated from a negativefed with said print about the transparent portion of said drum.

3. In an apparatus for photo-printing and developing the combination ofa stationary cylindrical drum having at least a lower portion thereoftransparent with a light source disposed within the same; a plurality ofrollers rotatably mounted at the feeding and delivery sides of the drum;an endless belt enveloping the rollers and extending slidably about thetransparent lower portion of said drum; a pendant separating memberpivotally mounted intermediate the cylindrical drum and one rollerdisposed at the delivery side of the latter; a magnetically responsiveextension upon the pendant separating member beyond the pivot mountingof the latter; an electromagnet fixed in operative position relative tothe magnetically responsive extension and effective to shift the latterupon being energized to simultaneously rock said pendant separatingmember toward said drum away from said one roller; a pivotally mountedswitch arm having a contact roller at one end thereof normally rollingupon said endless belt on said one roller; and an electrical contactadjacent to the other end thereof connected to said electromagnet therebeing a source of current; a spring normally biasing the extension uponsaid pendant separating member away from said electromagnet; and asecond spring biasing the other end of said switch arm toward saidelectrical contact, the arrangement being such that when the advance endof a print arrives beneath the contact roller the switch arm will berocked thereby to bring said other end thereof out of effective contactwith said electrical contact and thereby open the circuit of saidelectromagnet and thus cause said pendant separating member to be rockedby said firstmentioned spring toward said one roller in order toseparate the print from a negative in said apparatus.

4. In an apparatus for photo-printing and developing the combination ofa stationary cylindrical drum having at least a lower portion thereoftransparent with a light source disposed within the same; a plurality ofrollers rotatably mounted at the feeding and delivery sides of the drum;an endless belt enveloping the rollers and extending slidably about thetransparent lower portion of said drum; a pendant separating memberpivotally mounted intermediate the cylindrical drum and one rollerdisposed at the delivery side of the latter; a magnetically responsiveextension upon the pendant separating member beyond the pivot mountingof the latter; an electromagnet fixed in operative position relative tothe magnetically responsive extension and effective to shift the latterupon being energized to simultaneously rock said pendant separatingmember toward said drum away from said one roller; the endless belthaving an intermediate groove along its entire length; a pivotallymounted switch arm having a contact roller at one end thereof normallyrolling in the intermediate groove on said endless belt upon said oneroller; an electrical contact adjacent to the other end thereofconnected to said electromagnet there being a source of current; aspring normally biasing the extension upon said pendant separatingmember away from said electromagnet; and a SS"- ond spring biasing theother end of said switch arm toward said electrical contact, thearrangement being such that when the advance end of a print arrivesbeneath the contact roller the switch arm will be rocked thereby tobring said other end thereof out of effective contact with saidelectrical contact and thereby open the circuit of said electromagnetand thus cause said pendant separating member to be rocked by saidfirst-mentioned spring toward said one roller in order to separate theprint from a negative in said apparatus.

VILMOS KUNSTADTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 601,883 Schwarz Apr. 5, 18981,425,405 Miller et a1. Aug. 8, 1922 1,425,461 Evans Aug. 8, 19221,500,372 Cossitt July 8, 1924 2,019,929 Papke Nov. 5, 1935 2,129,230ONeil Sept. 6, 1938 2,317,655 Van Den Broek Apr. 29, 1943 2,371,925Schade et al. Mar. 20, 1945 2,401,203 Trump May 28, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 688,064 Germany Feb. 13, 1940

